Related Stories

Topics:

A member of Israel’s Knesset on Sunday dropped everything and insisted that his colleagues do the same in order to pray upon arriving at one of his people’s most important biblical sites.

MK Amnon Cohen (Shas) had apparently never before visited the Jewish community of Shilo in central Samaria. The modern community is situated adjacent to the ruins of ancient Shilo, which served as the capital of Israel for centuries prior to David’s conquest of Jerusalem.

Archeologists have uncovered much of ancient Shilo, including the spot where the Tabernacle, the precursor to Solomon’s Temple, was located. Upon reaching that revered site, Cohen insisted that he, his fellow lawmakers and several other local officials participating in the tour stop what they were doing and pray.

“This is a place where all of the children of Israel should be brought,” Cohen was quoted as saying. “This is where the Sanctuary stood for almost 400 years, before the Temple was built in Jerusalem. This is where the roots of all of us are located.”

As a “cohen” (Hebrew for “priest”), Amnon Cohen is a direct descendant of the very Israelites who ministered at the Tabernacle in Shilo, and later at the Temple in Jerusalem.